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Heritage Minister orders agency to screen documentary on Iran

Iranium, a controversial documentary film about Iran, has become the centre of controversy after Heritage Minister James Moore instructed Library and Archives Canada to show the film, despite “threats of violence” which caused a screening of the film to initially be cancelled. Both Moore and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney had earlier criticized Library and Archives, a federal Crown agency, for cancelling the screening. “The principle of free speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy,” read a statement from Moore’s office. This came after Pauline Portelance, a spokeswoman for Library and Archives Canada, said the Iranian embassy had asked that the film be cancelled. After the request was denied, people—whom Portelance described as “members of the public”—started phoning Library and Archives complaining about the planned screening and threatening to protest. After the “threats were getting too serious,” Portelance said, a decision was then made to cancel the screening. Now, politicians are calling on the cancellation as a threat to a free and open society. “The Iranian Embassy will not dictate to the Government of Canada which films will or will not be shown in Canada,” added Moore.

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Heritage Minister orders agency to screen documentary on Iran

Hmmmm? and people wonder why we are in 'Stan. The Taliban and the Iranian Gov't have a similar ideology. Canad MUST stand up and show this documentary. I say show it on CTV, CBC, and Global. Show off the Iranians for what they are.

Hmmmm? and people wonder why we are in 'Stan. The Taliban and the Iranian Gov't have a similar ideology. Canad MUST stand up and show this documentary. I say show it on CTV, CBC, and Global. Show off the Iranians for what they are.

What is clear is that the Canadian propaganda has reached to such a ridiculous low that the history will not support this vicious and biased portray of the Iran and her glorious 3000 years of history. These attacks will not change anything and the facts remain the same, which Iran is still Iran and her people and culture have not changed. But what is clear that now we are stooping so low to change the way we would like to portray them. We have lowered our standard, the Iranians have gained their independent and we are afraid of them.

This is sad that we have to daemonize a culture to justify war and another atrocities that we have planed for them as we did to Iraq and other before that.

What is clear is that the Canadian propaganda has reached to such a ridiculous low that the history will not support this vicious and biased portray of the Iran and her glorious 3000 years of history. These attacks will not change anything and the facts remain the same, which Iran is still Iran and her people and culture have not changed. But what is clear that now we are stooping so low to change the way we would like to portray them. We have lowered our standard, the Iranians have gained their independent and we are afraid of them.

This is sad that we have to daemonize a culture to justify war and another atrocities that we have planed for them as we did to Iraq and other before that.

This is a ridulous statement, bearing no semplance to the truth. The Iranians are not a free people, not even close!
Culture is not the issue. And Threats to protest to stop a screening sounds like more oppression.

It is ridiculous that they canceled the show. We need to stand up to all the foreign meddling of our country. I for one am glad that Harper did not back down to the UAE's demands to have their state funded airline compete with our airlines. Let us hope that this will continue and that the film will be shown.

This is a ridulous statement, bearing no semplance to the truth. The Iranians are not a free people, not even close!
Culture is not the issue. And Threats to protest to stop a screening sounds like more oppression.

It is ridiculous that they canceled the show. We need to stand up to all the foreign meddling of our country. I for one am glad that Harper did not back down to the UAE's demands to have their state funded airline compete with our airlines. Let us hope that this will continue and that the film will be shown.

I see a few other countries are starting to line up with us against the UAE as well as apparently we aren't the only ones they have been playing this airline game against. I have no doubt Harper will again proved to be prescient as usual and made the right decision at the right time for the right reasons – that's why they call us right wing !!!

Not really
Consistency of approach to censorship is all that is needed.
The department of defence cancelled a speech that was to be given by an imam, why because it was deemed unsuitable by our politicians after prodding from xtian extremists. George Galloway, even though clearly an idiot, was denied entry to Canada to speak in a purely political decision.
I heard no speech warrior invective from the right then.
Coulter's staff cancels her event and Steyn's goes ahead but the right claims censorship even though that was not even remotely the case.
Now we get this and the right once more claim censorship even though that appears to not really be the case.
From above I take the view that censorship is defined as follows by the modern right::
Censorship is any criticism of anything that a modern Tory likes. Additionally it isn't censorship if you are stopped from saying say anything the modern conservative doesn't like.
So in fact the opposite of what you said above.

No I believe I gave evidence that it is the right and the religious who have a preference for that. Amongst other tactics from the the deniers handbook.
Your assertion wasn't even supported by you.

harebell on January 19, 2011 at 7:37 pm

Behave yourself and realise that the incidents of CPoC censorship I gave above actually happened. They were not faerie tales like the Coulter and Steyn incidents. And they weren't incidents involving leftists who thought folk didn't agree with them.

harebell on January 21, 2011 at 12:22 pm

Way to go James Moore !!!! – here we have a classic example of how different gov'ts work. Conservatives stand up for what is right and true – left wing nuts post about anything else BUT how the CPC is doing the right thing here. How dare we abrogate ourselves from the right of freedom of expression and cave into the Iranians DEMANDS – are you kidding me – I don't give a freakin hoot about what Iran demands.

Way to go James Moore !!!! – here we have a classic example of how different gov'ts work. Conservatives stand up for what is right and true – left wing nuts post about anything else BUT how the CPC is doing the right thing here. How dare we abrogate ourselves from the right of freedom of expression and cave into the Iranians DEMANDS – are you kidding me – I don't give a freakin hoot about what Iran demands.

Holly, Jason Kenney did try to keep George the fool Galloway from speaking, because Galloway's message was one of hatred. But Kenney was wrong. Messages of hatred must be heard and evaluated too. No one listened to Galloway, and now he is forgotten. That's what usually happens to hatemongers.

I see a few other countries are starting to line up with us against the UAE as well as apparently we aren't the only ones they have been playing this airline game against. I have no doubt Harper will again proved to be prescient as usual and made the right decision at the right time for the right reasons – that's why they call us right wing !!!

It's clear from these "threats of violence" that occur wheneven Radical Islam or a Radical Islamic regime are criticized that there is already a dangerous number of Radical Islamists in Canada. What is the excuse for keeping Mass Immigration going and strenghtening their numbers? Are we waiting for Radical Islamists to become the majority in Canada and start making the laws? Why is this topic always avoided except on specialized websites like jihadwatch.org?

If you are concerned about this, why not clip this comment and e-mail it to your friends and relatives and ELECTED OFFICIALS?

It's clear from these "threats of violence" that occur wheneven Radical Islam or a Radical Islamic regime are criticized that there is already a dangerous number of Radical Islamists in Canada. What is the excuse for keeping Mass Immigration going and strenghtening their numbers? Are we waiting for Radical Islamists to become the majority in Canada and start making the laws? Why is this topic always avoided except on specialized websites like jihadwatch.org?

If you are concerned about this, why not clip this comment and e-mail it to your friends and relatives and ELECTED OFFICIALS?

Holly , the misguided one
are you actually a canadian?
would you stand for freedom?
do you actually support the oppression of women and death by stoning?
do you support those that jail and punish those who dare oppose your own strict religious view?
do you support strict punishment for apostasy…..?
do you ? Do you ? is that what it means to be a lefty? now>>> incredulous

how can any sane and decent person stand with the IRAN GOVERNMent( a dictatorship.. .oppressive against its own peoples) against our canadian goverment…….wow " Holly Stick"…sad

freeman, the misguided one
are you actually a Kanatian?
would you stand for freedom?
do you actually support torture, colonialism, killing of first natives, continuation of policies leading to "chemical alley" and mass murder of original inhabitants of non-white nations just like your white governments have done for the past 6 centuries?
do you support those that jail and punish those who dare oppose your own strict christian view? (you are with us or with the terrorists we made to fight Russians in 1980's)?
do you support strict punishment for apostasy…? ( Canada has laws that can punish any one who does not adhere to official version of holocaust)
do you ? Do you ? Is that what it means to be a crook? now>>>incredulous

how can any sane and decent person stand with the WESTERN GOVERNMent( a dictatorship.. oppressive colonialist against the colored people of the world) against all those nations who dare to use their resources as they see fit instead of handing it over to whites like you….wow "Crook Stick" ….sad

Holly, Jason Kenney did try to keep George the fool Galloway from speaking, because Galloway's message was one of hatred. But Kenney was wrong. Messages of hatred must be heard and evaluated too. No one listened to Galloway, and now he is forgotten. That's what usually happens to hatemongers.

Not really
Consistency of approach to censorship is all that is needed.
The department of defence cancelled a speech that was to be given by an imam, why because it was deemed unsuitable by our politicians after prodding from xtian extremists. George Galloway, even though clearly an idiot, was denied entry to Canada to speak in a purely political decision.
I heard no speech warrior invective from the right then.
Coulter's staff cancels her event and Steyn's goes ahead but the right claims censorship even though that was not even remotely the case.
Now we get this and the right once more claim censorship even though that appears to not really be the case.
From above I take the view that censorship is defined as follows by the modern right::
Censorship is any criticism of anything that a modern Tory likes. Additionally it isn't censorship if you are stopped from saying say anything the modern conservative doesn't like.
So in fact the opposite of what you said above.

Holly , the misguided one
are you actually a canadian?
would you stand for freedom?
do you actually support the oppression of women and death by stoning?
do you support those that jail and punish those who dare oppose your own strict religious view?
do you support strict punishment for apostasy…..?
do you ? Do you ? is that what it means to be a lefty? now>>> incredulous

how can any sane and decent person stand with the IRAN GOVERNMent( a dictatorship.. .oppressive against its own peoples) against our canadian goverment…….wow " Holly Stick"…sad

I am sure films criticizing Israel get to be shown as well, specially those which are financed by Iran since this particular film has been sponsored by AIPAC. It is really heartbreaking to see that a branch of AIPAC pressure group has come to Canada. I have watched Iranium and it is a propaganda movie trying to get another war going on. Basically Iran is entitled to as much security as Canada or France enjoys. If they believe nuclear weapons are the way then that is their decision, though all evidence suggest they have decided against developing nuclear weapons. As for terrorism, well, the biggest terrorists in the world are not Iranians. They are the ones who created and supported people like Saddam and Taliban, people who shot down Iran Air flight 655 killing dozens of children on board. People who are assassinating Iranian scientists and their families. People who are supporting Jundollah. Need I say more?

I am sure films criticizing Israel get to be shown as well, specially those which are financed by Iran since this particular film has been sponsored by AIPAC. It is really heartbreaking to see that a branch of AIPAC pressure group has come to Canada. I have watched Iranium and it is a propaganda movie trying to get another war going on. Basically Iran is entitled to as much security as Canada or France enjoys. If they believe nuclear weapons are the way then that is their decision, though all evidence suggest they have decided against developing nuclear weapons. As for terrorism, well, the biggest terrorists in the world are not Iranians. They are the ones who created and supported people like Saddam and Taliban, people who shot down Iran Air flight 655 killing dozens of children on board. People who are assassinating Iranian scientists and their families. People who are supporting Jundollah. Need I say more?

There is plenty of evidence that Iran is after nuclear weapons. Also, Canada and France do not want to kill and entire nation as Iran does, so you can not place Iran next to Canada or France and say that they are just as entitled to nuclear weapons.

Actually there is no shred of evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons as already been said even by the conglomerates of US intel agencies. Your ignorance is self defeating here. But lets assume that Iran is indeed going to develop nuclear weapons. The question remains, is that going to be legal? The answer is Yes. Under article 10 of NPT any nation can leave NPT and develop nuclear weapons. Your argument that Iran is going to kill an entire nation is again devoid of logic which is so short among people of your political inclination. It is west which has killed nations after nations in the past 6 centuries and not Iran. The country whose flag is portrayed as your DP, is built on dead bodies of those nations. If there is anyone who does not deserve to be having nuclear weapons, it is the western governments.

As a lot of countries in the Far and Middle East found a crumbling British empire can be a dangerous thing until it finally accepts that it is on its way. Also the countries of the old CIS found that out with a devastated and corrupt Russia. The USA is a dying imperial power on a much larger scale and as such is to be watched very carefully.
I could place an economically devastated, politically polarised USA above Iran in terms of a threat to world safety. And as Harper has shown, he will follow the US lead rather slavishly.

Either of these two have to go, USA or the US dollar. They can not keep both. Not atleast peacefully. The mother of all fears is not whether US will break up or they will go bankrupt on the the largest debt in human history. The fear is what length they are prepared to go to prevent these logical outcomes. As history has shown such nations are very inclined to go to war for the booty to pay their debts. Iran is one target. But it is not perfect target. Perfect is the one which has abundant natural resources ripe for stealing with a low population not inclined to fight off an in marching invading army. Canada could become that target. It is almost defenseless with one of the largest cumulation of natural resources on face of planet. Such things have happened many things during human history. Never trust your neighbor not specially if the neighbor in question has poor track record in other neighborhoods. That is the lesson of history for today.

Why would Moore order the film to be shown when he, himself, has not even seen it? Why is it so important to him that a film get shown? I agree, freedom of speech needs to be protected, but why is THIS film so important to the Heritage Minister?

I wonder which ethnic group is lobbying this talented leader of ours to get the film shown?

This long-time Conservative voter will be voting Liberal next time around. The incessant lobbying of a certain ethnic group is going to destroy this country.

Why would Moore order the film to be shown when he, himself, has not even seen it? Why is it so important to him that a film get shown? I agree, freedom of speech needs to be protected, but why is THIS film so important to the Heritage Minister?

I wonder which ethnic group is lobbying this talented leader of ours to get the film shown?

This long-time Conservative voter will be voting Liberal next time around. The incessant lobbying of a certain ethnic group is going to destroy this country.

freeman, the misguided one
are you actually a Kanatian?
would you stand for freedom?
do you actually support torture, colonialism, killing of first natives, continuation of policies leading to "chemical alley" and mass murder of original inhabitants of non-white nations just like your white governments have done for the past 6 centuries?
do you support those that jail and punish those who dare oppose your own strict christian view? (you are with us or with the terrorists we made to fight Russians in 1980's)?
do you support strict punishment for apostasy…? ( Canada has laws that can punish any one who does not adhere to official version of holocaust)
do you ? Do you ? Is that what it means to be a crook? now>>>incredulous

how can any sane and decent person stand with the WESTERN GOVERNMent( a dictatorship.. oppressive colonialist against the colored people of the world) against all those nations who dare to use their resources as they see fit instead of handing it over to whites like you….wow "Crook Stick" ….sad

There is plenty of evidence that Iran is after nuclear weapons. Also, Canada and France do not want to kill and entire nation as Iran does, so you can not place Iran next to Canada or France and say that they are just as entitled to nuclear weapons.

Nobody is standing with any government.
Mostly folk like me are pointing out the tremendous inconsistency in what is described as censorious by the modern right.
I think this film should be shown, I also thought Galloway should have been allowed in Canada to talk, Delic should have had his engagement honoured at the Defence Department meeting, Parliament should have been allowed to investigate the Detainee issue and Colvin should not have been intimidated and gagged by those who have something to hide.
I also think it is about time Harper honoured his pledge for greater openness in government so that less censorship is able to happen.
See no mention of Iran, Israel, sharia etc. Argument that appeals to principles not sides with friends.

No, in fact there is not plenty of evidence. There is plenty of evidence though that rightwiner want to tell more "weapons of mass destruction" lies so they can start another evil war and murder more inocent civilians.

Why do rightwingers push Israel's agenda? Why do they show more loyalty to Israel than they do to Canada? If Israel wants a war with Iran, let them start it and fight it themselves. But Canada can only be harmed by letting the current government of Israel lead the Harper government around by the nose.

I want a Canadian government that works for Canadians, not for some foreign country.

Actually there is no shred of evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons as already been said even by the conglomerates of US intel agencies. Your ignorance is self defeating here. But lets assume that Iran is indeed going to develop nuclear weapons. The question remains, is that going to be legal? The answer is Yes. Under article 10 of NPT any nation can leave NPT and develop nuclear weapons. Your argument that Iran is going to kill an entire nation is again devoid of logic which is so short among people of your political inclination. It is west which has killed nations after nations in the past 6 centuries and not Iran. The country whose flag is portrayed as your DP, is built on dead bodies of those nations. If there is anyone who does not deserve to be having nuclear weapons, it is the western governments.

Behave yourself and realise that the incidents of CPoC censorship I gave above actually happened. They were not faerie tales like the Coulter and Steyn incidents. And they weren't incidents involving leftists who thought folk didn't agree with them.

As a lot of countries in the Far and Middle East found a crumbling British empire can be a dangerous thing until it finally accepts that it is on its way. Also the countries of the old CIS found that out with a devastated and corrupt Russia. The USA is a dying imperial power on a much larger scale and as such is to be watched very carefully.
I could place an economically devastated, politically polarised USA above Iran in terms of a threat to world safety. And as Harper has shown, he will follow the US lead rather slavishly.

Either of these two have to go, USA or the US dollar. They can not keep both. Not atleast peacefully. The mother of all fears is not whether US will break up or they will go bankrupt on the the largest debt in human history. The fear is what length they are prepared to go to prevent these logical outcomes. As history has shown such nations are very inclined to go to war for the booty to pay their debts. Iran is one target. But it is not perfect target. Perfect is the one which has abundant natural resources ripe for stealing with a low population not inclined to fight off an in marching invading army. Canada could become that target. It is almost defenseless with one of the largest cumulation of natural resources on face of planet. Such things have happened many things during human history. Never trust your neighbor not specially if the neighbor in question has poor track record in other neighborhoods. That is the lesson of history for today.

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